To love another person
by bethanyjx
Summary: When Marius goes one step too far with taking Eponine for granted, Enjolras decides to show Eponine what it's like to be treated well, for once in her life. But perhaps a slight taste of happiness isn't worth all the heartache...
1. Chapter 1

A/N Hi, this is my first ever fanfic! I do not own Eponine, Enjolras, Marius or any characters in this story. Reviews are greatly appreciated! And I'll read and review one of your stories in return. I'm so grateful for any comments anyone has! Thankyou for reading. Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 1.

The cold winter breeze caressed Éponine Th_é_nardier's dirt-stained, delicate cheeks as she dawdled through the streets. Her chocolate brown hair would float majestically behind her, had it not been so unkempt that the tangles stopped it from moving. Her dark brown eyes were squinted and surrounded by black circles due to a life time of sleepless nights. Her shapely, light pink lips, chapped due to malnourishment and constant exposure to the cold weather.

She was a young girl, a pretty girl but her upbringing hid this. She had experienced so many emotional, mental and physical life-long scars that it aged her character drastically. She knew things, saw things and felt things a normal 18 year old girl shouldn't even think about. After all, the experiences she had undertaken in her 18 year long life were the equivalent to what most experience in 50 years. She had grown up in the 'care' of an abusive father and terrified mother, along with her sister, Azelma, who joined her in selling her body to the men of the streets, as a way to get money for their father in order to avoid a beating, and her younger brother, Gavroche, who she very rarely saw and almost never knew where he was and whether or not he was safe.

Trying her hardest to stay away from her family's inn - which also meant avoiding working for ungrateful, rude drunks, being beaten by her father and being involuntarily sold to members of her father's gangs for a few coins - meant that she had to find someone, something and somewhere to dedicate her time to.

The someone was Marius Pontmercy, the sandy haired, tall and perfectly muscular young student who had captured Éponine's heart the second their eyes met. Though his face was youthful and innocent, he was rough around the edges making Éponine find him mysterious and intriguing.

The something was the undeniable love she felt for him

The somewhere was the Cafe Musain where he and his fellow students met every evening.

It didn't matter how many of Marius' unfunny jokes Éponine forced herself to laugh at, how many times she'd given him her shoulder to cry on or how many hours she spent talking to, joking with and even just staring at him, he was completely oblivious to her true feelings and the dreamy look in her eye as she studied his every movement, and she was sure, he'd never love her back.

On this particular evening, when Éponine entered the Cafe Musain, Marius was nowhere to be seen. Disheartened, Éponine decided to sit at the only empty table she could see. However, with how drunk some of the students who gathered for the meetings in the cafe got, if you chose to sit alone, you wouldn't be alone for long. Within 30 seconds, Grantaire, a loveable young man with jet black curly hair and striking green eyes, was hobbling over to Éponine's table in the far corner of the room. Éponine rolled her eyes as he stumbled over his own feet.

_How much ale has he thrown down his neck tonight? _She thought, trying to hold in her laughter as he walked into almost every table and chair in his path.

Grantaire finally reached Éponine's table and slumped himself into the chair directly opposite the young lady.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle!" he slurred as he tapped Éponine's hand and shot her a broad, full smile. Grantaire had a cheeky, boyish charm about him which was probably one of the reasons why he constantly had new stories about the 'lovely ladies' he had invited into his bed.

"Good evening. Wow, look who's got himself drunk, for once!" Éponine winked sarcastically.

"Hush! Where is Monsieur Marius this evening?"

"What makes you think I would know?" Éponine truly believed that she didn't let her feelings for Marius show. She had no idea that her cheeks flushed bright pink as soon as he entered the room, or that she batted her eyes when he smiled in her direction, or that the ache she constantly had in her cheeks and jaw line were because of the permanent smile she had plastered on her face as she gazed longingly at him.

A snort of stifled laughter caused Éponine and Grantaire to stare in the direction of the table where Enjolras sat, his head buried in a book as usual, but obviously, at this moment in time, his main priority was listening to their conversation.

Enjolras was a strange man. Handsome, but strange. His ash blonde hair curled at the ends. His dark eyes were deep and lost. His lips were full but dry and cut from his habit of gnawing on them when he was in deep thought. He rarely socialized with the other students, he didn't drink and joke around with them all night long. He preferred to sit in the company of a few good books about law and revolution. He'd never been with a woman - he hadn't even kissed anyone yet and the boys mocked him for this.

Enjolras looked at Éponine over the rim of his book. He had found it amusing that she was so oblivious to how crystal clear it was that she loved Marius. He liked Éponine. He'd never spoken to her properly but he could tell she was a sweet and caring girl from the way she was always there for Marius. He felt sorry for her and her unfortunate upbringing and life at home. If she had been treated well and bought up properly, he had no doubt that she would be a respectable, beautiful, intelligent young lady, maybe even one who could capture the heart of Monsieur Marius.

Éponine stood up and shuffled over to the table where Enjolras sat. He avoided looking her in the eyes.

"May I sit?" She asked. Enjolras just nodded quickly, placing a hand on his forehead, shielding his eyes to show Éponine his attention was on his book, not what she had to say. "What was so funny?" she smirked.

"Nothing." He replied bluntly. He tensed up and felt awkward when around girls, something that embarrassed him greatly.

"Tell me." She kicked his shin under the table, finding it entertaining when his muscles noticeably tensed at sudden contact.

"Fine." He lowered his book. "Marius was here earlier. Grantaire _accidently _told him that you have feelings for him. That's why he's not here now. He left because he didn't want to feel awkward when you arrived. I don't even think Grantaire remembers saying it, the daft drunkard." Enjolras tried to joke about the situation but he could see the horror in Éponine's eyes.

_Shit._ She thought. _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"What did he say?" She asked. She knew she was pushing her look by just being friends with the handsome and rich student as she was just a filthy street urchin. She thought about how embarrassed he must be that she felt so strongly about him. So much so that he probably wouldn't speak to her again.

"Nothing. He just laughed awkwardly and slipped out the door when the subject changed."

"Shit. He'll probably never speak to me again now, I'll have embarrassed him so much." Éponine hid her face in her hands.

Enjolras reached across the table and placed his hand over Éponine's in an awkward attempt to comfort her. "If he does," he said, sympathetically, "he's stupid. If he's willing to throw away such a strong friendship with a wonderful girl like you, he's not worth it."

Éponine just stared at Enjolras. She was speechless. They'd hardly ever said two words to each other and she knew how shy he was around females and how much he tried to distance himself from any sort of relationship with any woman. So why was he being so nice to her? She felt the corners of her mouth fold upwards as they looked into each other's eyes. She'd never noticed how big and friendly they were before. She'd only seen them full of anger as he yelled out one of his speeches to the students.

"Thank-you." She managed to whisper, causing Enjolras to snap out of his almost hypnotised state he found himself in after staring into her eyes. He chuckled awkwardly as he pulled his hand back quickly, realising that his palm was beginning to sweat. He quickly buried his head back into his book.

Éponine saw this as a hint to leave. She pushed her chair back slowly and silently scuffed away, still slightly breathless by the butterflies that fluttered away in her stomach as she locked eyes with Enjolras.

Enjolras watched the scruffy, yet beautiful girl wander away, wishing he could suck it up and speak to her like a normal person and not get embarrassed and freeze up like an idiot. His mouth unconsciously curved slightly as Courfeyrac grabbed her arm and pulled her in to the group of students he was talking to and she giggled, showing her adorable dimples. She ducked her head slightly and looked over to him from under her long eyelashes, attempting to hide her glance but their eyes met and she quickly turned away and his eyes darted back to his book.

Both of them attempted to ignore their racing heartbeat, fluttering stomachs and blushing cheeks as they tried their hardest not to look at the other again.

_What is this strange feeling? _Enjolras thought to himself as he realised he'd read half a page of his book without paying attention. His mind was completely elsewhere. And that had never happened to him before.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

"See you tomorrow." Éponine pulled Combeferre in to a tight hug when they got back to the Th_é_nardier's inn after he had walked her home from the Cafe Musain.

Combeferre pulled back from the hug. He wrapped his large hands around Éponine's tiny upperarm and squeezed them slightly. "Take care, 'Ponine," he said, sincerely. He then cupped her chin in his hand and squeezed her cheeks, laughing as her lips puckered.

Éponine rolled her eyes and playfully gave his cheek a light punch. "You too. Bye!" She stood in the doorway of the inn and watched Combeferre as he strolled down the street. She realised how lucky she was to have the students from the cafe to look out for her, take care of her and stick up for her all the time. They were like brothers to her, like the family she always wanted but never had. She loved each of them and they were all special to her in their own way.

_I don't know what I'd do without my brothers. _She thought to herself whilst watching Combeferre blow her a kiss as he turned the corner and vanished into the darkness of the night.

She stood in the doorway, thinking. The cold wind blew her hair and sent shivers down her spine and formed goose bumps on her bare arms. She felt content and happy, which was a rare occurrence.

"'Ponine!" Éponine's attention was snatched away from her satisfying thoughts by her younger sisters voice.

"Zelma," she nodded to her sister and marched over to the bar, getting straight to work before her father had time to complain.

"'Ponine, I need to tell you something!" Azelma's dark brown eyes were wide with excitement. She and Éponine were obviously sisters. They were a spitting image of each other. The same heart shaped face, same shiny brown eyes, same dark hair, same wide smile and the same dimples which gave them both an innocent, childlike appearance.

"What is it?" Éponine really didn't care. Azelma's exciting news was usually about a handsome boy who had merely looked at her for two seconds on the streets today but will probably never be seen again, or a customer who winked at her when thanking her for their drink.

Azelma picked up on the disinterest in Éponine's monotone, distracted voice. "Oh, forget it! You never care what I have to say. One of these days it might be something important," Éponine scrunched her face up, mimicking Azelma. "Something like - oh, I don't know - MARIUS coming here about an hour ago to see if you were around..." she teased, cleaning invisible marks off the bar surface.

"'Ooh something like-'" Éponine mimicked in a high pitched voice, "wait, what?" She suddenly registered what her sister had said and turned around to face her.

Azelma rolled her eyes. "Sure. Now you listen. Marius came here earlier. He asked if you were home. I said you'd gone to the cafe and he said that when you get back I had to tell you that he needs to speak to you soon, and it's _important_." Azelma poked Éponine in the side, playfully as she sang 'important'.

Éponine batted her sisters hands away. All she could think of was that Grantaire had told Marius that she had feelings for him earlier that evening. _It must have something to do with that!_ She mentally shrieked. _He came to my house! He wanted to see me even after he found out I had feelings for him. Maybe he feels the same way about me and was too shy to admit it until he realised I feel the same! _She noticed she had been smiling and biting her lip and Azelma was smirking at her.

"I've got to go and see him now, Zelma!" Éponine kissed her sister on the cheek. "I won't be long!" she shouted as she fled the inn.

Éponine walked briskly down the dark, empty streets. She would have found them eerie and be quite scared had she not been flying high as a kite with the thought of Marius being in love with her too! She had a slight skip in her step and she reached the Pontmercy household. She knocked on the door.

A few moments later, a sleepy, drowsy Marius opened the door. His face lit up with he saw Éponine.

"'Ponine!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her. He grabbed her hand and lead her into the house. They sat in front of the fire and Éponine had to try and not seem to excited by this as it was not something she was used to at all. "I really wanted to talk to you." Marius avoided eye contact with her.

"I know. Zelma told me you'd been to the inn to look for me," Éponine couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face. "Also, Enjolras told me about what Grantaire blurted out to you earlier." She giggled awkwardly.

"Oh. Right. About that." His voice suddenly sounded distinctively unenthusiastic.

Éponine felt her heart plummet as she turned to look at him with a full, excited smile and his face was completely emotionless. Her happy smile faded almost instantaneously.

"Éponine, I..." Marius began but shook his head, obviously deciding he hadn't chosen the right words. Éponine stared blankly at him, putting pressure on him.

"I...," he closed his eyes, sighed and nodded. "I love you, 'Ponine. You know I do. You're like my little sister. Me and the boys at the cafe think the world of you, 'Zelma and Gavroche. You're part of our family bu-"

"But you don't love me like I love you." She felt tears forming in her eyes. _How stupid of me to ever think differently._ She thought.

Marius hung his head. "I'm sorry, 'Ponine. But I do love you as a sister. You're my best friend. You mean the world to me. I don't want to lose you."

She took a deep breath and realised that being Marius' friend was better than nothing. She smiled sadly at him. "You're my best friend, too, Marius. I never want to lose you either. I'd do anything for you, you know that, right?"

Marius looked in to her eyes. "Really? Anything?" Éponine nodded as Marius reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded letter. "I need your help, 'Ponine. I need you to take this letter and find a girl for me."

Éponine couldn't believe what she was hearing. _How can he be so heartless?_

"I saw her today. She was wonderful..." Marius rambled as he described the beautiful girl who had stolen his heart at first sight, not noticing his friend was fighting to hold back tears. "I... I need to see her again. I need you to find her for me. If it helps, I think I heard her father say something about Rue Plumet. Please, 'Ponine." He grabbed his friend's hand and looked into her eyes, pleading.

Éponine was suddenly lost for words.

"If you truly loved me, 'Ponine, you'd do this for me."

Something inside her told her that Marius was being unreasonable but she couldn't say no to him. He looked so desperate and he needed her help. And she did truly love him.

"Fine." Éponine took the letter and quickly rose to her feet and ran towards the door, her hand covering her mouth and nose tightly so as she didn't sob out loud.

"Éponine! Wait!" Marius scrambled to his feet and ran after her but she wasn't slowing down for anything.

She threw the heavy front door open and vanished into the shadows of the street.

"'Ponine!" But Éponine didn't hear him. All she could hear was her painful sobs and the sound of her heart beat in her ears as she ran faster away from the humiliating scene.

Éponine walked the dark, cold streets, standing on her tiptoes and straining to see over the garden walls of the posh houses in Rue Plumet. She looked at the letter in her hand. "Cosette" she read. She recognised the name but couldn't think where from.

She suddenly felt her heart shatter as she looked over one garden wall and saw the most beautiful, perfect young woman she had ever seen sitting on a bench. Her blonde hair was tied to one side and draped over her shoulder. Her nightgown fitted tightly and showed off her perfect figure. Her pale, round face looked almost porcelain as she had absolutely no blemishes. She was just as Marius described. There was no doubt that this was the girl. Éponine stared at her face for a few seconds as she realised why she recognised the girl's name.

"Cosette." She whispered. She had known the girl when she was younger. She lived with her and her parents at their inn. They treated her as their servant and were shamefully horrible to her until, one day, a well dressed, rich man came to the inn and paid to take Cosette away. Éponine had always been jealous of her. She had blonde hair, which Éponine had always wanted. She had blue eyes, which Éponine had always wanted. She got taken away from the Thenardier's which Éponine had always wanted. And now she had won the heart of Marius, which Éponine had always wanted more than anything in the world.

Failing to hold back her tears, Éponine threw the letter over the wall and ran off as fast as she could.

When she could finally run no more, Éponine stopped to lean against a wall. The cold stone soothed her hot, sweat covered back. She closed her eyes and sank to the floor, burying her head into her knees and crying as quietly as she could.

She heard footsteps but was too exhausted to look up.

"What's a fragile little dear like you doin' out 'ere at this time all on her own?" The voice was painfully familiar.

Éponine looked up to see the mischievous grin of Montparnasse. "Leave me alone." She muttered.

But Montparnasse was not one to accept being ignored. He nudged Éponine's foot with his own. "I'd hate to leave you in this state. At least give me something to... cheer you up." He wiggled his eyebrows seductively, making her cringe.

Nothing about Montparnasse could cheer her up. His attitude, his voice, his intentions, everything about him made her feel sick. She hated him. But he had some insane idea that she had feelings for him after she gave herself to him on her sixteenth birthday. She had been celebrating with the boys at the cafe and went ten drinks too far. She was falling over, vomiting and didn't have a clue what she was doing but Montparnasse had managed to convince himself it was out of love. He had controlled her ever since that night, and since he was in her father's gang, he would slip her father a few coins and take away any right she had to say no, as her father would practically push them into her bedroom and lock the door. "Have fun with her!" He would laugh loudly.

"I said leave me alone." She turned her face away and shuffled away from him.

He sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her petite frame, pulling her towards him. She tried to release herself from his grasp but she was exhausted from running and crying.

"Now, now, darling. Don't fight me." He whispered through her hair. His breath was putrid. She squirmed and tried to duck down and escape beneath his arm but he was too strong. He wrapped his arms around her, disabling any way of her moving, lifted her up and dragged her down a dark alley a few feet away.

Exhausted and feeling worthless since her true love did not love her, Éponine gave up her fight. She felt any inch of care for herself or her life drain from her as Montparnasse ran his lips down her neck, untying the back of her dress. Her rags fell to the ground and she shut her eyes and held her breath as Montparnasse had his way with her, yet again. But this time, it did not make her blood boil with hatred, and she did not feel angry. She felt nothing. She was nothing. Her whole life meant nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Éponine woke up slumped in the dark corner of an alley. She sat upright and winced as she felt a shooting pain in her back and neck from the position she had slept in. She looked around, confused. Her eyes noticed two coins lying on the floor next to her and she suddenly remembered why she was there.

"That _dirty bastard._" Éponine gritted her teeth. She was disgusted with herself. She stood up and her dress slipped off her shoulders. She must have just thrown it over herself last night and not had the energy to lace up the back of it. She did so now, followed by picking up the coins, tucking her hair behind her ears, brushing the skirt of her dress and sneaking cautiously out of the alley way, trying her hardest to blend in with the other people in the streets.

"Éponine!" She closed her eyes and groaned at the sound of someone shouting her name. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. "Hello? Éponine!" She heard quick, heavy footsteps as whoever required her attention ran to her side. "Hello? Have you gone deaf?" Joly laughed but his face dropped when he saw that Éponine looked like she had hardly slept a wink and was going to burst into tears at any minute. "'Ponine? What's wrong?" He stood in her path to stop her from walking away, forcing her to answer him.

She looked at the ground, scrunching her eyes shut and shaking her head. "Marius." She whispered, looking up at Joly before she couldn't hold her tears in any longer and began to sob. Joly pulled her close to him and held her, stroking her back comfortingly.

Éponine held the material of his shirt tightly and buried her head into his chest.

"Come on." He pulled away from the embrace. "Let's go back to the cafe. I'll get Musichetta to make you some tea and you can talk to me about everything that's troubling you." Éponine's cold, tiny hand disappeared into his and they walked together in silence towards the Cafe Musain.

As they walked up the stairs, Éponine had a horrible thought and stopped dead in her tracks. "What if Marius is here?" She whispered. She attempted to turn around and run away but Joly stopped her.

"If he's here, I'll tell him to leave. You don't look well, 'Ponine. You're freezing and you look exhausted. You need somewhere warm and comfortable to rest and I don't want him upsetting you more. I promise you, I won't let him."

Joly opened the door which groaned unusually loudly and many people in the cafe turned to see who was there. Joly entered with Éponine walking close behind him, like a timid puppy.

"Éponine!" Marius rose from his armchair in the corner of the room where he had been sat all morning, just staring out the window in deep thought. He began to walk over to her when Joly held his hand up as a signal for him to stop.

"Marius, Éponine needs rest. You'll have to speak to her another time." Éponine quickly fled from her spot behind Joly into the open arms of Grantaire.

Marius just looked at her. _Why is she acting like such a child? _Marius thought. He wanted to be angry at how immature she was being, but she looked so innocent and heartbroken that he couldn't bring himself to feel anything but guilt. He decided that giving Éponine time to calm down before speaking to her would be worth the wait if it meant being able to discuss the situation properly and keeping his best friend. He sighed before exiting the cafe.

Grantaire wiped tears from Éponine's cheeks and led her to the sofa at the back of the room to sit down. She sank back into the sofa which felt like bliss compared to the rough brick wall she had leant against last night. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She had almost dropped off to sleep when she heard someone sit on the table in front of her.

"What the hell's happened?" Feuilly boomed.

Éponine explained what had happened to the boys that had crowded around her while her eyes had been shut. They all listened carefully to every word she said, waiting patiently for her to calm down when she began sobbing uncontrollably every now and then. Musichetta came over and placed a mug of tea down infront of Éponine, before sitting on the arm of the sofa and stroking her friend's hair softly as she listened with deep sympathy.

When Éponine finished telling the story, everyone was staring at her with a look of pure shock on their faces and shortly after, the comments came flooding in.

"That is awful!"

"Who does he think he is?"

"Why didn't you slap him around the face, 'Ponine?"

The comments branched off into the boys having their own conversations in pairs or small groups and Éponine felt guilty that she had made Marius' friends speak of him in such a bad way. She walked away from the boys and stood by the window, gathering her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Enjolras, smiling sympathetically at her.

"You alright?" He asked. Éponine shook her head. "Of course you're not. Oh, God, what a stupid question. I'm sorry. How stupid of me..." Enjolras began rambling and Éponine remembered how nervous he got around girls. She just watched him as he fiddled with his fingers, bit his lip and adjusted his jacket. She giggled quietly, but loud enough for Enjolras to hear and become paranoid. "What are you laughing at?"

"You." She smiled. "Why are you so nervous?"

Enjolras looked down and shuffled his feet. He shrugged. Éponine watched him, fascinated. How could someone who made such strong, inspirational speeches with obvious confidence be so shy?

"I like you, 'Ponine." Enjolras muttered, still not looking her in the eye. "I'm sorry Marius doesn't realise how special you are."

Éponine bit her lip and ducked her head, trying to hide her face, as she couldn't stop herself from ginning widely and she was sure her cheeks had blushed bright pink. "Thanks."

Part of Enjolras wished she would say more. Something that would hint to him that she felt the same butterflies he did every time they were near each other. But she didn't. She just looked out the window, obviously distracted. "No bother. Um... I'll... leave you alone now. Bye." And he shuffled away. Rolling his eyes at himself for being so speechless around Éponine. He knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her how entranced he was when her eyes reflected light and sparkled ever so slightly. He wanted to say that her dimples were the most adorable thing to ever meet his eye. He wanted to tell her that he could see that her beauty wasn't only skin-deep and he knew she had the most full and caring heart a person could hope to have. But he didn't want to say any of it, unless he was sure she wouldn't turn him away.

_Talk to him for God sake, 'Ponine. You've always been so brave. You've always been able to tell anyone exactly what's on your mind. So why not him? Find some courage and talk to him! _The voice in Éponine's head screamed at her to stop Enjolras from walking away and call him back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Enjolras, wait!" She shouted and everyone in the cafe turned to look at her.

_Shit. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Enjolras turned around nervously as he heard Eponine shout his name. He wanted to walk back over her but he was frozen to the spot, stuck staring at her like an idiot.

_Hello? Walk over to her. What are you doing? Go! _Enjolras finally released the breath he had been holding when Eponine gestured for him to walk over to her. He shuffled awkwardly towards her, looking at his feet and burying his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah?" He said as he reached her side. He tried to sound casual and not like his heart was beating so loud, he was convinced she could hear it.

"Just... Thank you."

_For fuck sake, Eponine. That wasn't what you wanted to say, you wimp. _

"You already said that." Enjolras smirked slightly.

"Yeah, I know. I - I just..." She shut her eyes, preparing herself before opening them, catching Enjolras' eyes and sighing heavily. She smiled. "You think I'm special?"

Enjolras broke eye contact and chuckled nervously. "All the boys do. You're our friend."

_Shit. He meant as a friend. Oh my God. _

"Thanks. That's sweet. You guys are special to me, too."

They stood silently for a few moments, shuffling awkwardly as neither of them knew what to say.

"Is that all?" Enjolras cringed as he said this. He wanted to sound casual but that came out a bit rude.

"Yeah. Um... Bye." Eponine crossed her arms across her chest and dawdled over to sit next to Grantaire. She felt embarrassed that she could ever even imagine Enjolras, the man of stone, thinking of her as more than a friend in the slightest. She didn't even think of him as more than a friend but the thought of someone caring about her in the way she cared about Marius warmed her heart.

"You alright?" Grantaire said as she sat down next to him and draped her legs over his knee.

"Never better." She replied bitterly before snatching the bottle of beer he was swinging between his thumb and forefinger and downed the remaining contents. Marius had really screwed her head up this time and she wanted to completely forget about him and numb her aching heart, and the boys, particularly Grantaire, had always said that getting absolutely paralytic was the best way to go about that. She slammed the bottle down on the table before raising her hand and requesting Musichetta bring over two more beers for her and Grantaire. She did so promptly.

"Here's to you, Marius. You tosser." Eponine raised her bottle high above her head and clinked them with the boys sat around her as they all chanted: "Pontmercy the tosser!" and each took a long sip of their beer.

Eponine laughed as Courfeyrac made a comment about Enjolras being boring. "Surprise, surprise! Look who's the only one not drinking! Mr. Fun himself." He said it much louder than intended and Enjolras over heard. He looked over to the group just in time to catch Eponine's line of sight and receive a sympathetic half smile from her. He wanted her to come over and ask if he was okay and sit with him and talk to him and laugh with him but their stare was interrupted by Combeferre shoving a shot glass filled to the rim with tequila in her face and started a "Down it! Down it!" chant.

She obliged, chucking the liquid down her throat. She scrunched her entire face and dropped the glass on the floor before making retching noises and sticking her finger up at Combeferre. The boys around her erupted into laughter. Enjolras rolled his eyes before rising angrily from his seat, gathering his papers and walking into the back room of the cafe for some peace and quiet.

Eponine caught his eye again as he made his way over to the door.

_Why does she keep looking at me, for God's sake? _

The next morning, Eponine woke up with an aching head. She dug her face into the fluffy white pillow and groaned slightly, grasping the material between her fingers. She stretched her legs between the soft duvet and fresh sheets when she suddenly realised: there was no way this could be her bed. She froze for a moment before daring herself to look around the room.

_Where the hell am I?_ She rubbed her temples and breathed heavily as sitting up caused her stomach to turn. She tried to recall what happened last night to see if she could work out where she was. The last thing she could remember was challenging Combeferre to a drinking competition.

She could hear someone moving around outside and heard the click and hiss of a boiling kettle. She slipped into her jacket that was on a chair by the side of the bed - it seemed to be the only item of clothing she'd warn the following night but hadn't slept in - when she heard a knock at the door.

"Ep? You up?" She heard Grantaire's voice call from the other side of the door.

"Yeah." Her voice was croaky so she cleared her throat.

"Good. I've made you breakfast when you're ready."

_What an angel. _She smiled to herself.

About 10 minutes later, after Eponine had washed and cleaned herself up in Grantaire's en suite, she sheepishly slid the door open and joined Grantaire in the kitchen where he sat at the table reading a newspaper and sipping his mug of coffee.

When he saw Eponine he stood up and walked around the small round dining table to hug her tightly.

"Morning." She said, pulling out of the hug.

"You alright?" He reached for the mug of coffee he'd poured for her and slipped it into her small hands.

"Mm." She took a sip and sighed as the warm liquid trickled down her dry throat. "Feeling a bit rough."

Grantaire chuckled. "Can't say I'm surprised."

"I've never drank that much in my life."

"No shit. I don't think anyone has." Grantaire laughed as Eponine slumped into the kitchen chair and rested her head on the table, fake sobbing. He sat in the seat next to her and squeezed her shoulder, comfortingly. "You were funny."

"Shut up." She kicked his shin.

He tried to hold back laughter. "Do you even remember anything?"

"Not after challenging Combeferre to shots."

"Would you like me to refresh your memory?" Grantaire teased.

"Something tells me I don't have a choice." She sipped her drink before resting her head on her arm and shutting her eyes, ready to hear the, no doubt, hour long story of her embarrassing actions from the night before.

Grantaire began telling Eponine about how after downing 10 shots about 30 seconds after Combeferre (who in her defense was much more used to drinking than she was) she had fell off the sofa and lay on the floor for about 20 minutes, refusing to move or speak to anyone. When they finally got her to talk again, she had started crying about Marius which resulted in a lecture from Jehan that went on for about 10 minutes, stating how she was too good for him and shouldn't waste her time on him which had just made her cry more.

Eponine found herself getting very embarrassed, very quickly and decided the best thing to do was stop listening. She let her mind wonder. She thought about Marius and how she still loved him, even though he treated her like crap. She thought about the boys and how sweet they all were to stick up for her and try their hardest to make her feel better, especially Jehan's speech and Enjolras telling her she was special.

_Enjolras._

Why did she get such a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as his face popped into her head? She decided to start paying attention to Grantaire as she heard him say the blonde's name.

"What was that, sorry?" She blinked to focus her eyes on Grantaire.

"I knew you weren't listening." Eponine blushed. "I said, you were funny arguing with Enjolras."

"I did what? Ah, shit. What did I say?"

"Nothing too bad. He stormed off in to the other room because we were all being loud and he was trying to study and when he came back in, you were singing really loud and he rolled his eyes at you. Lets just say, you weren't too happy about it." Eponine hid her face in her hands. "You were saying something like, "Courf was right. So bloody boring. Lighten up" etc. and he was just ignoring you, which you also weren't happy about. So you grabbed a bottle of beer and tried to make him drink it and he was trying to push you away, telling you you were being stupid, and you were having none of it. Basically, it ended with you screaming that he was rude, miserable and boring and him having a beer shower."

Eponine stared at Grantaire, distraught. "Oh my God, that's terrible. I feel awful."

"He understood that you'd drank a lot and weren't used to it. He just left after that."

"Jesus Christ." She sighed. "I'll apologise to him tonight at the cafe."

"That's probably a good idea." Grantaire laughed.

**A/N: Yay! That update was a lot quicker! The rest of the updates will take about that much time as well, hopefully. I decided I rushed in to Eponine and Enjolras liking each other a bit too fast, so I'm gonna go at it from a slightly different angle for now. But have no fear! The lovebirds shall share their nest soon. Reviews, favourites and follows are all greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.**

**-Bethan x**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Eponine insisted Grantaire let her do the washing up as he had made her a huge fry up because 'it's the best cure for a hangover, believe me' and if anyone was an expert in hangovers, it was Grantaire. He tried to stop her, suggesting she had a shower and lay down on the sofa to watch films and rest her head (another thing he knew was good for hangovers) but she said she had to do something as she felt she owed him for looking after her when she was drunk, letting her stay the night, making her breakfast and for always being such a good friend to her.

"Ep? I'm just gonna pop out for half an hour." Grantaire poked his head through the door way as he pulled on his coat and grabbed his car keys off a hook by the door.

"Oh, okay. Don't be long." Eponine said as she put a pile of plates back in the cupboard after finally finding where he kept the plates. "Where are you go-" But when she turned around, Grantaire was gone and she heard the loud slam of the front door.

**.**

She put the last glass back in the cupboard and looked at the clock. 12:35. Grantaire had left 10 minutes ago which meant she still had 20 minutes ago. She decided to go for a shower.

The warm water ran down her back and was the first thing that day to make her head and stomach ache go away and stop her feeling so sluggish. This resulted in her staying in the shower for longer than planned and when she exited the bathroom, she could hear people talking in the kitchen. She identified the voices as Grantaire and Courfeyrac.

_Shit._

She wrapped her towel around her tighter and walked down the hallway, silently praying that the kitchen door was shut and she could sneak past without being noticed.

She succeeded and slipped into Grantaire's room at the end of the hall. On the bed was a cardboard box with the words 'Eponine's stuff' written on the side of it and a note lying on the pillow next to it. She read it.

_Packed you a few things because Grantaire said you were staying with him for a while. Take care. Love you loads,_

_Zelma xxx_

She looked into the box and saw 3 pairs of jeans, 5 tops, a dress, 10 pairs of matching underwear, 3 pairs of pajamas and a picture of Eponine, Azelma and Gavroche.

_How long am I staying here for? _She thought to herself. _I didn't even know I _was_ staying here._

Grantaire knocked on the door. "You decent?"

"Yeah. Come in." Eponine said, tossing the picture frame back in to the box.

"Hey. Courf's here." Grantaire announced.

"What's all this for?" She said, gesturing to the box.

"Azelma went to the cafe earlier and gave it to Courf."

"Yeah... Why? Did you not think to tell me that I was staying here?" Eponine crossed her arms.

"I knew you'd argue with me and I-"

"You still should have told me! What if I don't want to stay here?"

"I didn't want you to be at home because you always say you're left on your own a lot at home and I didn't want you to be alone when you were upset about Marius. I wanted to keep an eye on you, and make sure you were happy. And I just assumed you like spending time with me. My mistake, apparently. " Grantaire turned to exit the room.

"'Taire." Eponine grabbed her friends arm. "Sorry. Of course I love spending time with you. I'm just getting a bit smothered by all the attention from you boys. It's overwhelming!" She laughed. "I appreciate it, though. I appreciate you. So, so much."

Grantaire could never stay mad at Eponine. He pulled her in for a tight hug. "Love you, 'Ponine." He sang.

"Love you, 'Taire." She replied.

"You coming then? Courf's waiting." He began pulling her out the door.

"Erm... Grantaire?" She giggled.

"Yes?"

"I'm naked."

**.**

When Eponine had changed into her pajamas and shoved her hair up in to a messy bun, she walked in to the lounge to find Grantaire and Courfeyrac placing 3 boxes of Domino's pizza, 3 bottles of beer and a stack of rented DVDs on the coffee table.

Courfeyrac turned around when he heard Eponine clear her throat.

"Ah! There you are, Little Miss Pisshead!" he held out his arms to her and she ran up to him, laughing as he picked her up and span her around.

"What's all this?" She asked, indicating to the layout on the table.

"Thought we'd spoil you a bit." Grantaire smiled, tapping the empty space on the couch next to him as Courfeyrac picked up two of the films they had rented and told Eponine to choose either his right or left hand. The film she picked turned out to be 50 First Dates.

Courfeyrac joined Eponine and Grantaire on the sofa and passed Eponine her bottle of beer, winking at herteasingly.

"No beer for me." Eponine said, turning her face away because even the sight of it made her feel sick. "I'll go get myself some water."

She got a glass out of the kitchen cupboard and started pouring herself a glass of water when she heard a loud clatter from outside which startled her. "Guys?" She shouted.

_"Yeah?"_ came their reply.

"What was that noise?"

_"What noise?" _

_"I didn't hear anything." _

"Oh, never mind." She finished pouring her drink, before flicking the light switch and shutting the kitchen door behind her. As she walked past the front door, she heard another noise from the other side of it.

_What the hell was that?_

She pulled back the curtain that covered the window at the side of the door and hesitantly peered outside. She didn't see or hear anything for a few moments and just as she was about to put it down to imagination and go back in to the lounge, a hand hit the window in front of her and she screamed.

**A/N: Couldn't resist posting this tonight! This will probably become a regular thing (posting two chapters at the same time) because once I've got my writing mojo, I struggle to stop hehe. Anyway, hope you enjoy this. Reviews, follows and favourites are appreciated immensely!**

**Love Beth x**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

Grantaire and Courfeyrac ran into the hallway when they heard Eponine's piercing scream.

"What's wrong?" Grantaire grabbed a shaking Eponine by the forearms and tried to calm her down. "Ep! Breathe. Calm down." he shushed the trembling woman as he cradled her in his arms.

She finally calmed down and pointed a shaking finger at the window. "Someone's outside."

Courfeyrac shot Grantaire a worried glance before gulping, sucking in a breath and peering out the window. He failed to see what Eponine was talking about.

"Ep, there's nothing out there." Courfeyrac reassured her, turning away from the window.

"There is! Someone hit the wi-"

Another clatter from outside stunned the three to silence. Courfeyrac looked at Grantaire again. He didn't know why, Grantaire never knew what to do in any situation, and even if he did suggest something, it was usually ridiculous.

Grantaire took a deep breath. "Okay. Eponine, you stay here. Me and Courf will go and see what it is." He patted her knee comfortingly as he rose to his feet. He composed himself and placed his hand on the door handle, hesitating before twisting it and slowly pulling it open. Grantaire stepped outside. "Courf?" his voice cracked and trembled. "Come here."

Courfeyrac turned to face Eponine from his place in the doorway, fear in his eyes at the sound of his friends voice, before slipping out the door. Eponine wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her head into her knees, eyes shut and breathing heavily. She felt her whole body tense up at the sound of Courfeyrac moaning in horror.

_"Courf! Pull yourself together! Give me a hand, man." _She heard Grantaire say, his tone stricter than she had ever heard it before. _"1, 2, 3!" _She heard both men grunt as if they were lifting something.

She raised slowly from her position on the floor, her back pressed against the wall at all times. She let out a small gasp as Courfeyrac and Grantaire stumbled through the doorway, carrying a body between them. As they turned in to the living room, and Eponine got her first proper look at the body they were carrying, she knew who it was staright away. His blonde curls and infamous red jacket were unmistakeable.

"Enjolras." The word physically hurt her as it fell threw her quivering lips. Her body shook with sharp, loud sobs.

She bit her thumb nail nervously as she watched Grantaire and Courfeyrac place their helpless leader on the sofa, resting two pillows against the arm of the sofa, so as he sat up slightly. Courfeyrac finally moved out of the way so Eponine could finally see his face. His eyes were swollen and red, his lip was split and thick, crimson liquid was still spilling out of it, along with his nose. He had two dark purple bruises on his left cheekbone. Eponine cringed at the sight. He was usually so strong and she was used to seeing his face holding a strong, serious glare, but now, he looked so helpless and weak. So beaten and broken. And she could still see a slight tension in his eye brows from where they had been knotted in pain as his attacker pummelled him.

"Shit!" Grantaire shouted suddenly, making Eponine jump. She felt her breathing and heartbeat speed up as he raced out the room, merely brushing past her as he went.

"What? What is it?" She followed Grantaire into the kitchen, watching him turn the taps on full and throw cloths into the sink to soak while he got the first aid box out of the far kitchen cupboard. He dug through the box like a dog frantically digging a hole, boxes of tablets and plasters and tubes of cream fell out the box, landing on the counter and the floor. Grantaire stopped digging as he found the bandages he had been searching for. He turned the taps off, retrieved the cloths and ran back into the living room, Eponine quick on his heel. "Grantaire!" She hit him repeatedly on the back, frustrated at his momentary dismissal to her existence.

Grantaire pushed the coffee table out the way and knelt down by the side of the sofa where Enjolras lay, not unconscious but as good as. While Grantaire ripped open the box of bandages, Courfeyrac lifted Enjolras' white shirt - the shirt Eponine now realised was stained red. She took in a sharp breath and held it.

"He's been stabbed." Courfeyrac said upon hearing Eponine panicking. Tears had been welling in her eyes ever since she had realised who the wounded man was, but scrunching her eyes up as Courfeyrac said those words caused the first of many tears to fall. "Call Joly." Eponine finally released the breath she had been holding as she met Courfeyrac's worried glance. "Call Joly!" He shouted.

Eponine jumped and scrambled to the phone. Her uncontrollable shaking hands caused her to drop the phone and dial the number wrong twice. When she finally pressed the button to send the call, it felt like the ringing tones went on for hours. "Come on, come on, come on." She muttered under her breath. "Answer the fucking phone!"

The ringing was suddenly replaced by the low, continuous mutter of men and an occasional high-pitched girly giggle. This meant Joly was at the Musain. "Grantaire! Where are you?" Joly sounded merry.

"Joly, it's Eponine. You need to come to Grantaire's right away." She spoke fast and seriously.

Joly suddenly sobered up. "Why? What's wrong? Are you okay? Is Grantaire alrigh-" Eponine cut him off.

"We're fine. It's Enjolras. Please hurry, Joly, please!" Her voice cracked on the last word and she began sobbing.

"I'm on my way." Dial tone.

Eponine's hand let the phone drop to the floor as her sobs shook her body. She returned to the sofa where Courfeyrac and Grantaire were still wrapping Enjolras' waist and stomach in bandages and shouting at each other in frustration.

"I'm fucking trying!" Grantaire was yelling.

"You're doing it wrong! Be careful!" Courfeyrac criticized.

"Joly's on his way." Eponine said, surprisingly calm. She noticed she had stopped crying again but no doubt, she would resume shortly. This happened often during hectic situations.

Enjolras stirred, his eyes twitching slightly before opening as far as possible, due to their swelling. Eponine raced to kneel at his side, comfortingly stroking his hair.

"Eponine?" His voice was awfully scratchy.

"Yes - yes, it's me. It's me, Enjolras." Eponine tried to sound calm, she didn't want to panic him, but she cursed herself internally at her obvious fail to do so.

"What happened?" He let his head rock backwards. Eponine's head snapped up to look at Courfeyrac, shooting him a 'what-the-hell-do-I-tell-him' look. Courfeyrac shrugged.

Eponine took a deep breath and collected Enjolras hand in her own. "You've been attacked... You're hurt but, you're going to be okay, I promise. I promise. Joly's on his way. I promise. Promise." She wrapped her pinky finger around his, smiling weakly as more tears threatened to fall.

"Ouch! Shit!" He tensed up as Grantaire attempted to tighten the bandages around his abdomen and Eponine and Courfeyrac both lightly pushed his shoulders back down. Too much movement would only cause the wound to open further and bleed more. He had already lost a lot of blood and any more would most positively be dangerous.

Enjolras relaxed back into the pillow, breathing heavily, eye lids flickering as his head span. Eponine rested her forehead on the seat of the sofa, rubbing her hand up and down Enjolras' arm as her tears stained the cushion.

Suddenly the sound of his heavy panting faded to silence. Eponine's eyes opened wide and she felt sick rise from her stomach. She snapped her head up to see Enjolras' chest rising only slightly, and very slowly, and then dropping instantaneously. His head was hanging over the arm of the sofa and his eyes were only just shut. Eponine whimpered.

"He's unconscious." Grantaire was slapping Enjolras' un-bruised cheek lightly, trying to wake him up, but to no avail. Eponine began sobbing, again. "Eponine! Shut up! I'm trying to think of what to do!" Grantaire pushed her out the way. "For fuck sake! Where the hell is Joly?" Grantaire buried his hands into his dark curls in frustration just as a loud, continuous knock echoed through the house.

"Joly!" Eponine, not even bothering to stand up properly, began half running, half crawling out the room and towards the door. She yanked the door open and Joly ran in with Combeferre close behind. Eponine slowly shut the door, trying to bring herself to terms with what was going on. She rested her head against the cold wood, tapping her fingers rhythmically to calm herself down.

_Stop it, Eponine. You're making everything 10x worse. Just calm down. Be strong... for Enjolras. _That final statement didn't sound right. No one had to be strong for Enjolras. Enjolras was always the one being strong for everyone else. He was the one who kept everything and everyone sane. Now it was their turn.

"Eponine?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Courfeyrac. "You okay? You've been out here for twenty minutes."

"I'm fine, just trying to keep myself calm." She forced a weak smile.

Courfeyrac smiled sympathetically at her. "Joly and Combeferre has stopped the bleeding. He's not fully come to yet but he's been mumbling a few words."

"Good."

"He's asking for you." Eponine's eyes filled with tears again.

"What?"

"The first thing he said was 'Eponine'. Come on. He needs all the comfort we can give him." Courfeyrac pulled the stunned Eponine into the room where Enjolras was drifting in and out of sleep or consciousness - she wasn't sure which but she prayed it wasn't the latter - his head was rocking, he was moaning and groaning and his breathing was shallow.

"Eponine." She heard him mutter.

Courfeyrac nudged her arm. "Go." he mouthed.

She walked to the sofa, returning to her kneeling position at his side. "I'm here." she whispered.

"Good." He smiled. "Don't leave me."

And for, at least, the hundredth time that night - tears.

.

Joly and Combeferre insisted it was fine for them to leave. They had stopped the blood rushing from his stab wound and facial features and, although Eponine wouldn't believe them, they insisted he was just asleep and not unconscious. Courfeyrac wrapped his arms around Eponine's waist from behind her and placed his head on her shoulder. Eponine lifted her hand to the side of his face and stroked his cheek with her finger tips.

"He'll be fine." Courfeyrac whispered.

Eponine nodded and Joly and Combeferre took this as their chance to rush out the house before she changed her mind again because she was having insanely quick mood swings.

It was now half past midnight and, although Grantaire and Eponine's nights in usually resulted in them stumbling to bed at four in the morning, their hectic evening put weights on their eyelids and they could barely keep themselves from nodding off.

"Go to bed, Ep." Grantaire mumbled. "That's the fifth time in the last minute you've dozed off."

Eponine was sat on the floor, still caressing Enjolras' cold arm. She was mesmerised by the shivers it sent down her spine. "No." She didn't take her eyes off her rotating fingertips. "He asked specifically for me when he woke up. He told me not to leave him and Courf said he needs all the comfort we can give. I'm not leaving him, Grantaire, I won't." Eponine was one of the most stubborn characters anyone could ever meet and there was no convincing her once she'd made up her mind.

"Fine." Grantaire forced himself to his feet. "But sleeping there will disagree with you in the morning." He kicked Courfeyrac's feet as he walked past the armchair his friend had fallen asleep in causing him to jolt awake.

"Night, Ep." Courfeyrac slurred, rubbing his eyes and exiting the room, bumping in to the doorway twice on his way out. This meant he was sleeping in Grantaire's guest room, which meant Eponine had no choice but to fall asleep next to Enjolras, so Grantaire couldn't be mad at her for it the next day.

When Eponine heard the door to the guest room slam and the bed creak as Courfeyrac collapsed on to it, she sat up a little straighter and diverted her eyes to Enjolras' bruised and beaten face.

She let her thoughts escape her mouth, something she only usually did when she was home alone.

"Enjolras." she whispered. "What have you done? How did you get into this state? You never fight without the boys there to back you up. Never. Which means..." She gasped. "You didn't want this. You weren't set out for a fight. You were unprepared, taken by surprise,... scared." Tears. "What horrible excuse for a man would want to hurt you?" She rested her head on the sofa cushion.

"'Parnasse." She heard a faint, croaky voice whisper.

"What?" Her head snapped back up so she was looking directly at Enjolras' eyes, even though they were still swollen shut. Her eyes were also swollen, and red and sore, from the endless hours of crying.

"It - it... was 'Parnasse."

"Why did Montparnasse hurt you, Enjolras?" She wasn't sure if he was actually awake, or sleep talking, and from her experience with sleep talkers, (Gavroche and Azelma had both been terrible for it) she knew that asking a question that couldn't be answered with 'yes' or 'no' meant the sleep talker was more likely to continue with their story.

"I went... to speak to you. I wanted to apologise for last night... at the Musain. For being boring and moody, and for saying you were being stupid. I didn't mean it and I wanted to... make sure everything was okay... between us." He lost his breath easily.

"Everything's fine, Enjolras."

"Good."

**I literally didn't even plan for this to happen! I don't know where this came from which is why it probably seems a bit odd and messy. Anyway, it's much longer than my usual chapters (double the length in fact!) so perhaps that can make up for it? :D **

**Thankyou for reviews, favourites and follows! **

**And to reviewer: ****PumpkinPie1926****, this was originally intended to be set in 1832 but then I realised, I have no idea what life was like then, so I changed my mind so I could write with more confidence.**

**-Beth x**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Grantaire was right. Eponine woke up the next morning with killer neck and back pains. She moaned as she rotated her head and her neck clicked audibly several times.

"That's not good for your bones, you know."

"Shut up, Enjolra-" Eponine's eyes opened wide. "Enjolras!" Without thinking, she threw herself on to the sofa beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her. Enjolras groaned in excruciating pain. "Shit! Oh, my God! I'm so sorry!" Eponine pulled away, cursing herself.

Enjolras resumed to his earlier position, though the shooting pain from his stomach meant it wasn't even a fraction as comfortable as it had been. He laughed it off, knowing Eponine meant no harm. "It's fine." He whispered. "I'm fine. Thanks to you."

"Oh, God no. I can't take credit at all. It was all Grantaire, Joly, Courfeyrac and Combeferre. I did nothing. Except cry an awful lot-" Eponine blushed.

"Eponine." Enjolras placed his hand on top of hers. "All I wanted last night was someone to comfort me and tell me I was going to be okay. The boys rushed around poking and prodding me, making me panic and know something was seriously wrong, but you... You sat here beside me and promised me I'd be fine and stayed by my side all night. Thank you." He squeezed her hand slightly as more tears rushed to Eponine's dark eyes.

A cough from behind Eponine demanded their attention and they both looked to the door way to see Grantaire, smiling at them.

"How's my fearless leader?" Grantaire mocked.

"He's fine." Eponine rose to her feet.

"Well, he was. Until Eponine jumped on him." Enjolras chuckled, making his body tense up in pain, although he tried to hide this from his friends.

Eponine forced a nervous chuckle. "I'll go put the kettle on." She disappeared into the kitchen and Grantaire took her spot on the floor beside Enjolras.

"You hurting?" He breathed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. If asked if his blocked nose was due to him crying himself to sleep, worrying about his best friend, he'd lie.

"Yeah." Enjolras croaked, adjusting his position slightly, then regretting it. "Nothing's comfortable."

"I bet." Grantaire smiled sympathetically. "So..." He asked the question that was all over his face. "What happened? How? Why? Who?"

"Give me a chance!" Enjolras tried to make light of the situation, to no avail. Grantaire just raised his eyebrows and shot him a look that said 'there's nothing funny about this', which Enjolras rarely saw on Grantaire's face. "Montparnasse." He muttered.

"The bastard from the slums? Who hit Feuilly last month?"

"The one who hit Feuilly last month, yes." They spoke in unison.

"Why?"

Enjolras sighed and looked around to check Eponine wasn't around to hear. "I went to Thenardier's Inn to see Eponine. Apologise for the other night." Grantaire nodded. "Well, when I got there, her father asked what I wanted. I asked if she was around and Montparnasse walked over. 'Why is some posh boy looking for my whore?' he was saying. I told him not to speak of her like that and both men laughed at me. 'That's all that she is, though!' They were laughing hysterically about it and it made my blood boil. I grabbed Montparnasse by the shoulder and looked him dead in the eye and said 'Don't speak of her that way, do you understand me? I will take her away from this shit hole and give her the life she deserves.' And he kicked me in the groin." Enjolras shuddered.

"Ouch." Grantaire replied.

"Yeah." He continued. "Anyway, I hit him a few times, and he hit me. Her father, being the coward that he is, pushed us out the door and we were fighting for quite a while. Until, everything just sort of slowed down and the noise just seemed to fade away. I looked at 'Parnasse and he was smiling that disgusting brown-toothed smile. My sight... just... blurred and I blacked out. Then suddenly, I felt a blow to my face and everything rushed back. My sight - which was just red from my blood. My hearing - which was just the bastard swearing at me. The pain - which was when I realised, I had a knife sticking out my stomach."

Grantaire cringed. "Stop. How did you get away? How did you get here?"

"I heard Thenardier saying something like 'You've gone too far, boy!' and he dragged Montparnasse inside. I knew I had to get help so I just crawled, slithered, shuffled - whatever I could do to move - and somehow managed to get myself to your place. I was trying to get to the door to knock when I saw Eponine look out the window so I just banged the window as quick as I could. I think I scared her."

"Just a bit." Grantaire chuckled.

"I know, I heard her scream."

The two boys sat in silence for a few moments, both a bit shocked from the realisation of how bad Enjolras' attack had actually been.

"So what are we going to do about Eponine? If she goes back now..." Grantaire shuddered at the thought of what would happen to her. Everyone already knew that her father beat her and forced her to sleep around, and that Montparnasse was a helping hand with both.

"She can't. You have to let her stay here."

"That was the original plan. It wasn't meant to be anything permanent, though. But I guess I could make exceptions for her." Grantaire would do anything for Eponine. "You, erm... I didn't - didn't realise you... erm... cared so much for her."

Enjolras was shocked by his friends comment. "Of course I do, 'Taire. She's one of us, isn't she? I'd take the same risks for any of you."

Grantaire rose to his feet. "Would you, though?" He looked Enjolras' in his purple eyes, pleased to notice the swelling had gone down a bit.

"Wha-" Grantaire cut him off.

"Something that extreme? That dangerous? That life-threatening for any of us?" Grantaire had begun shouting by this point, but quickly calmed down when he realised Eponine would be able to hear. He sighed, heavily and sat back down on the floor. "Or is the real reason because you care for Eponine a bit more than you'd like to admit?"

"I don't know what you mean." Enjolras shifted his head so he didn't have to make eye contact with his teasing friend.

"You do." He perched on the edge of the sofa beside Enjolras. "Enj, do you have feelings for Eponine?"

Eponine chose this exact moment to enter the room with a tray carrying three mugs of coffee.

"Sorry." She blew a stray bit of hair out of her face. "It took a while to get Courf to wake up." She placed the tray on the coffee table before looking up to see Enjolras and Grantaire looking awfully shifty. "What? Did I interrupt something?"

"No." Enjolras said quickly. Grantaire just reached for his coffee and slurped it slowly.

Eponine decided against questioning their odd behaviour.

**.**

A few days passed and Eponine rarely left Enjolras' side. He insisted she give him some space but she refused and Grantaire couldn't deny the feeling of jealousy that was stirring up inside him.

"Courf." Grantaire stopped his friend as he passed him in the kitchen doorway. "Where's Ep?"

"In bed still, I think." Courfeyrac replied, still half asleep.

Grantaire walked to the guest room, stopping to knock on the door. "Eponine, you in there?"

He could hear quiet sniffling coming from the other side. "Yeah." Eponine called, obvious traces of crying in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Grantaire worried. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." Eponine's voice squeaked as she began to cry again.

Grantaire entered the room, shutting the door behind him and racing to join Eponine where she sat on the edge of the bed. He threw his arms around her and pulled her head towards his chest, rocking her backwards and forwards slowly.

When she finally calmed down, Grantaire decided to ask what was wrong.

"I've got to go home, 'Taire-"

"No. No, you haven't, Eponine. You can stay here for as long as you like. You can live here!"

"You don't understand." She paused to compose herself. "I have to go home. They need me." She looked down and Grantaire realised she had been holding something in her hands. It was the picture Azelma had sent along with Eponine's clothes. His heart sank.

"We'll go get them. They can live here too." Grantaire was not letting Eponine go back to her abuse family.

"Where? It's already way too crowded with me, you, Courf and Enjolras." Grantaire looked away. He knew this was true. "I'm going home, Grantaire."

"How can you call that place home? This is your home now! With me. We'll work something out for Azelma and Gavroche. They can live with one of the other boys. The point is, I want you to be safe. You're safe here." Grantaire cupped Eponine's cheek and wiped away her tears with his thumb. Eponine leaned into his touch and pressed a kiss against his rough hand.

"I know." She whispered.

"I'll never let anyone hurt you."

"I know." She repeated.

**.**

The Musain was quiet and the atmosphere was tense, just like how it was after something drastic had happened and no one knew exactly what was going on. A few of the boys were mumbling to each other but the majority were staring at the door way, awaiting their leaders return, as announced by Courfeyrac the day before.

"Where are they?" Bahorel broke the silence, impatiently.

The door slowly creaked open and Courfeyrac hobbled in with an arm around his shoulders, showing someone was leaning on him and he was having to carry most of their weight. Next to Courfeyrac's face appeared the well-known blonde curls and the cafe erupted into cheers as the door was kicked further open and Enjolras could be seen struggling to make his way into the room, but still smiling through the pain. The boys immediately rose to greet their friend and help settle him in a chair. Questions began being flung left, right and centre.

"What happened to you?"

"Who did this? We'll sort 'em out!"

"How long until you're fully recovered?"

"We all knew you were annoying, Enjolras, but we didn't think you had it in you to piss someone off this much!"

Eponine laughed at her friends but couldn't help but notice there was something missing. She looked around the room when her eyes stopped on Grantaire who was sitting in corner, his usual bottle of alcohol was absent from his hands. She gave him a half smile and he just shrugged in return so Eponine made her way over to him. She sat on the table in front of him.

"What's got you down?" She asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He replied, unconvincingly.

"Sounds like it." Eponine laughed but Grantaire just stared at the floor. "Hey." she span slightly on the table so as her feet rested on Grantaire's chair and she pushed it slightly to get his attention.

"What?" Grantaire snapped.

"What the hell's wrong with you? You're awful moody." Grantaire rolled his eyes at this. "Tell me!"

With this Grantaire rose from his seat. "You don't want to know." He said quietly to her before storming out the room and slamming the door behind him.

Eponine turned to look at the other boys in the cafe. It was only Courfeyrac who had noticed Grantaire's exit. He caught Eponine's eyes and mouthed to her to follow him. She slid off the table and ran out of the back room of the cafe, down the stairs and out the main doors on to the cold, dark street.

"Grantaire!" she could make out the silhouette of his body at the end of the road and ran after him. When she caught up to him, she tugged at his arm to try and stop him from walking away. "Grantaire! What is wrong with you?" She stood in front of him, looking straight into his eyes, putting on her best 'puppy-dog' face.

"Leave it, Eponine. Why the hell did you follow me?" Grantaire tried to get passed her but she refused to let him walk away.

"Because I care about you, stupid! I tho-" Eponine stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Do you care, though? Really?"

"Grantaire, you're my best friend. I care about you more than anyone." She put her hand on his arm but he pulled away, instantly.

"More than Enjolras?"

"Of course!"

Grantaire chuckled. "Don't lie to me, Eponine. You haven't left his side since the accident."

"'Taire, what is going on with you? I care about you. I love you. You're my best friend." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He buried his face into her mess of hair. "I love you, Eponine."

"Good."

"No." He pulled away and looked her dead in the eye. "I love you, Eponine Thenardier."

Staring into Grantaire's eyes, Eponine saw something she had never seen before in his serious face. It looked as though he was begging her, yearning for her, to love him. Like it would physically pain him if she didn't. Eponine teased one of his dark curls with her finger tips and a smile forced its way on to her lips as he shivered under her touch. She shifted her weight onto her tiptoes and Grantaire's eyes closed slowly, his eyelashes flickering nervously. Without thinking, Eponine leaned and planted a small kiss on her friends puckered pink lips. She watched as his mouth spread into a warm smile that melted her heart. She saw something in him she had never had the pleasure of seeing before in that split post-kiss second. It was warmth, love and happiness and she didn't have it in her heart to take that away from him. She pulled him closer to her, capturing his lips in hers. Grantaire bent down slightly, sliding his hand along the back of her knee and sweeping her up into his arms, their lips never separating.

He carried her all the way back to his house, laughing as he stumbled up kerbs and walked into lampposts but not once did he and Eponine break their kiss. When they finally got home, they wasted no time in collapsing on Grantaire's bed and removing their clothing. Eponine pulled Grantaire towards her, impatiently. He hovered above her, his weight on his elbows, looking down at the girl he had always secretly wanted, but never even dreamed he would get. She was biting her lip slightly, looking up at him through her long, dark eyelashes. He smiled mischievously, making Eponine giggle, as he reached across to the bedside table and turned off the lamp.

**OMG I HAD TO DO THIS! This genuinely wasn't supposed to happen, at all. It was supposed to just be really cute bonds between Eponine and the boys from Les Amis but when I started writing about these two, I just couldn't resist! Cuties! :D**

**My gosh, I need to bring Marius back into this story desperately. I'm just as unsure about where this is going as you guys are! I have my ending all planned though so I shouldn't go too far off the rails!**

**PS This is another long chapter, ain't it? I wrote it surprisingly fast too! I'm getting better, woohoo!**

**As always, thanks for reviews, follows and favourites. Love you alllllll!**

**-Beth x**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

Eponine shivered and pulled the covers up, tightening them around her neck. She cupped her hands around her mouth and breathed hot breath on them before sliding them around her cold waist and then rubbing them on her bare thighs and -

_Hold on. _Her eyes opened wide. _Where are my pajamas?_ She lifted the duvet slightly and peered down. Naked. She tried to recall the night before, but she'd been drinking with the boys again and gone too far... again. She buried her head into her pillow, groaning.

She froze when she felt the covers shift as someone moved in the bed beside her. She lay still for a few moments, holding her breath, until she decided to roll over, quietly and slowly. She gasped as her eyes were met by Grantaire's peaceful, carefree face next to her.

His hair was messier than she'd ever seen it before, his lips had traces of her smudged red lipstick on them and his body was completely bare. This meant one thing.

"We had _sex_?!" Eponine voiced her thoughts, loudly, before clasping her hand over her mouth and scrunching her eyes shut, mentally praying Grantaire was in a very deep sleep.

He wasn't.

He took in a single heavy breath as he was snatched away from his slumber and his eyes fluttered open slowly. At first, he smiled softly at Eponine and his eyes drifted closed again. But then his brain snapped out of its sleepy trance and his eyes almost popped out of his head. He stared in shock for a few moments before finally gulping and managing to whisper: "Morning."

"Hi." Eponine forced a worried smile.

They both rolled onto their back and stared at the ceiling in silence, neither of them daring to break the silence.

After at least 5 minutes, Grantaire spoke up. "So... um -"

Eponine cut him off. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be stupid. I shouldn't have said I love you, I was -"

"No." She protested. "I'm the one who kissed you and I shouldn't have."

Grantaire looked over at her sheepishly. "Why not?"

She turned her head quickly to look at him, he was staring at her, a nervous look on his face which made him look vulnerable. "What do you mean?"

"Why shouldn't you have kissed me?"

"Because-" She took a deep breath and shut her eyes so she didn't have to look at the adorable baby face in front of her. "Because I don't think I love you the way you love me."

Silence.

Eponine forced herself to open her eyes but as soon as she did, she regretted it. She could see the hurt in Grantaire's eyes, as his brow furrowed and his jaw tensed. He sighed before looking down, nodding slightly and smirking to himself.

"I knew it was too good to be true." His voice cracked.

Eponine felt her heart break right then. "Oh, 'Taire-"

"Save it." Grantaire turned over in the bed, sat up and retrieved his dressing gown off the chair by his bed side before wrapping it around him. He stood up and slowly made his way towards the door, pausing just as he reached for the door handle. He turned back to Eponine. "You can let yourself out, right? I'm going for a shower." She nodded. Grantaire opened the door and slammed it behind him.

Eponine sat up in her (now most probably ex) best friend's bed, tugging the sheets up to her chin and clenching them tightly as she felt her eyes fill up with tears.

_I'm horrible. _She thought to herself. _What kind of awful human being does something like that to their best friend? _

She decided it best to get herself out of the house before he returned from his shower, so as he had time to calm down and they could at least try to talk about what happened properly. She slipped back into the clothes she had been wearing the previous night, something she had done at least a hundred times before, but never under these circumstances, which made her feel sick to the stomach. She picked up her bag from the kitchen counter and opened the front door, sighing as she exited, and shut it behind her.

**.**

Grantaire sat down on the floor of the shower, knees tucked in to his body and the water falling on his head and trickling down his back giving him goose bumps and shivers. Part of him hoped that he would get out the shower and Eponine would still be sat there in his bed, the thin bed sheet wrapped around her, her knees bent slightly, arms hugging her waist. However, when he finally did return to his bedroom, she had fled. The only evidence of her being there, was his unmade bed.

Grantaire vowed there and then to forget about it. Forget about Eponine, his feelings for her and the wonderful night they had spent together. It hurt too much to think about it, but hurt too much to try and forget about it. So he decided the only option was to do the one thing he knew best: go to the cafe Musain and get drunk with his friends.

**.**

Eponine walked slowly down the cobble stone street, head down and arms wrapped around herself, protectively. She looked up to see the street sign to the road where her parents inn was when she felt her heart skip a beat.

_I can't go home! _She thought to herself, panicking slightly. She turned and attempted to run away but she ran straight into a tall figure and a pair of large hands grabbed her by her forearm, stopping her. She clenched her fists and started punching and pushing with all the strength she had inside of her.

"Let me go, you bastard!" She yelled.

"Wow. Still holding a grudge, I see?" The familiar voice brought an end to her fighting immediately. She looked up.

"Marius!" She said, relieved. "I'm sorry, I thought you were my fa- Someone else. I panicked."

"I can see that." Marius laughed. "It's me, 'Ponine. You're safe." He hugged her tightly. "And freezing!" He let his coat slide off his shoulders and threw it around Eponine's petite frame. He wrapped one arm around her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, we'll go to the Musain."

They walked together down the street. Marius didn't leave her side nor take his arm from around her shoulder and Eponine found herself snuggling in to him slightly and it felt so natural.

**.**

They got to the Musain, Marius still holding her protectively, and walked in to the back room to find Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Joly, Feuilly and... Grantaire. Eponine scrunched her eyes shut and cursed in mentally at the sight of him. He was dancing on the table, a bottle of beer in each hand, his tie handing loose around his neck, one shoe off, one shoe on. He turned round when he saw his friends look towards the door.

"Oh, wonderful! Eponine and Marius are here!" " He threw his arms out dramatically and sarcastically. "You forgave him then, I see?" He smiled teasingly at Eponine.

"Shut up." She muttered.

"That's something we both have in common then, 'ay _'Ponine_?" He said the nickname Marius called her mockingly. "We're both pathetic mugs." Eponine shook her head in pity. "I only hope you realise your mistake before you sleep with it." He jumped down from the table, stumbling slightly as his feet made contact with the ground.

Eponine felt her blood boil. She looked towards the other boys in the Musain who were all avoiding looking her in the eye, other than Marius, who stared at her, confused.

"Oh, sorry!" Grantaire clasped his hand around his mouth. "Are we not supposed to talk about it?"

"I said, shut up."

"A bit ashamed, are we?"

"Grantaire." Eponine warned.

"It's nothing you've never done before, though, right?"

"I'm warning you."

"And to think Enjorlas risked his life for you, just because Montparnasse called you a whore."

"What?"

"When he wasn't fucking lying."

Eponine snapped. She ran at Grantaire punching, kicking and yelling at him. Marius grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground, pulling her away from the drunk man. She was tugging at his hands and arms, trying to get him to let go, whilst kicking and screaming like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Grantaire laughed, making her even angrier.

"Grantaire! Stop winding her up!"

"You've gone too far."

"Go sober up, you idiot. Sometimes, you're absolutely vile when you've had a drink."

Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Joly and Feuilly were also yelling at Grantaire now, Marius was yelling at Eponine to calm down and Eponine was screaming every swear word she could think of at the man she used to call her best friend.

Enjolras hobbled through the doors to absolute mayhem. He watched, stunned for a moment.

"What the hell is-" No one could hear him. "What on earth-" Nothing. "**SHUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUP**!" Everything suddenly fell silent. "Thank you. Now someone tell me, what the hell is going on in here?"

Marius released Eponine cautiously and looked around at his friends, still quite confused. "I think Eponine slept with Grantaire." He said.

Enjolras' stomach turned slightly at this. He looked at Eponine who glanced at the floor immediately. He hid the uneasy feeling it gave him. "So?" He said, casually. "What's the problem?"

"The only problem is that I was too stupid to see that I was just another man for her." Grantaire slurred. "Oh shit. That reminds me. I forgot something." He reached into his trouser pocket, rooting for something. He pulled his clenched fist out, and opened it as he threw the contents at Eponine's feet.

Two coins.

Eponine's entire body tensed as she looked up menacingly at Grantaire. "I hate you." She said.

Grantaire laughed.

"Bastard!" Eponine yelled and Marius grabbed her quickly in case she pounced on Grantaire again.

"Right! Stop!" Enjolras claimed silence again. "You two are going to sit in here, together, on your own, until you sort this out." They both scoffed and rolled their eyes. "I'm not kidding. Joly, get the key of Musichetta." Joly obeyed.

"You can't possibly be serious." Eponine said, in disbelief.

Enjolras just walked out the room, Courfeyrac, Combeferre and Feuilly following close behind.

Marius let go of Eponine again. "I think it's for the best." He said, sincerely, as he backed away, slowly, towards the door. He shut the door after him and the click of the lock echoed through the room.

Grantaire roared and threw his empty bottle of beer and the wall in anger and it smashed into a million pieces. Eponine cowered at the all-too-familiar action that was usually followed by a slap from her father. The drunk man turned and stared at her with rage and Eponine backed away slowly before her back came into contact with the wall and she slid down it to sit on the floor.

Grantaire began to walk towards her until he heard a sharp inhale of breath let out by sobs and realised how awful he had been. He looked down at the quivering girl slumped against the wall and all the anger, all the alcohol drained from his body. He began to feel a bit sick when he thought back to how he had acted towards his best friend and his knees suddenly felt weak. He fell forwards right in front of Eponine's feet. He rested his head on her raised knees and began sobbing himself.

Eponine lifted her head slowly, shocked. She had expected Grantaire to call her names, swear at her, perhaps even hit her, the last thing she thought he'd do was break down at her feet.

"Why are you crying?" She said through sniffles. Grantaire felt the corners of his mouth turn up at the sound of her adorable sniffling.

He didn't answer her question but instead shook his head and brought his hand up to cup her knee and rub it with his thumb, comfortingly. "I'm sorry," she heard him whisper.

"Me too," her voice cracked as a sob racked her body. She rubbed her hand across her cheek to catch a tear. "Bastard." She teased.

Grantaire chuckled. "Whore." They both caught each other's eye and Eponine pushed his head, playfully and they started laughing, pitying themselves for letting something interfere with their friendship so immensely.

"I love our friendship." Eponine ran her fingers through her hair in relief. "The way we can be snogging one minute, screaming and fighting the next, then laughing and joking about it." She smiled to herself.

Grantaire nodded in agreement. "So..." he began awkwardly, "you and Marius? Friends again?"

She sucked a breath through gritted teeth. "Yep." she forced, "I bumped into him in the street and I was so relieved to see a friendly face, I just couldn't walk away from him. We haven't really talked about what happened but we just... sort of... naturally found our way back together again."

"I still think you need to talk to him. The way he treated you was unfair and I don't want him to think he can do it again and you'll go running back to him." Grantaire touched her hand. "You deserve better."

"I don't deserve you." Eponine looked at the boy sincerely, a genuine smile forming on her lips.

"I know." he winked, clambering to his feet and pulling Eponine up after him. They both stood simply looking at each other for a few seconds, completely in awe at their ability to act as if the last 24 hours hadn't even happened. Grantaire wrapped his arms around Eponine and when she returned his embrace, he swept her off her feet and span her around a few times, before he had to stop as the dizziness from the unbelievable amount of alcohol he consumed rushed back and he nearly fell over.

"Come on." he held her fingers softly in his and lead her towards the locked door. "We've sorted everything! You can let us out now!" he shouted, pushing his face against the door.

Mumbling could be heard from the other side. "Are you sure?" Combeferre said, unconvinced.

"Hundred percent." Eponine rested her head on Grantaire's upper arm, nuzzling it slightly.

A few mumble-filled moments later, the door unlocked as the boys were still not fully convinced that they weren't just being tricked into letting them out of the room. Slowly, it creaked open and Combeferre poked his head through the gap, smiling as his eyes met the pair, holding hands.

"Hurrah!" he teased, throwing the door open and gesturing to the pair as they walked through the door. The rest of the boys in the cafe clapped, sarcastically and Eponine pulled faces at them.

Grantaire spotted Marius sat in the armchair in the corner of the cafe, looking out the window, distracted. He approached him, warily. Just as he opened his mouth to talk, Marius spoke up.

"You slept with her?" He quizzed, not shifting at all, not looking at him, not showing any emotion, unforunately for Grantaire as he didn't know if Marius was angry at him or not.

"Yeah." Grantaire repsonded, finally.

A silent moment passed.

"Is that a problem?" Grantaire found the courage to ask.

Marius shrugged slightly.

"'Cause I don't see why it should be. Eponine has followed you around like a lost puppy for almost two years now, and you've never even given her the time of day. You treat her like dirt and I-" Grantaire was surprised with how angry he was getting with Marius. He couldn't take much more of this emotional rollercoaster he was riding today.

"I know!" Marius turned sharply to face Grantaire as he yelled. He knew exactly what he was talking about and knew that it was all too true. "I know," he repeated calmly, returning his eyes to the raindrops sliding down the window. He sighed. "I take her for granted. I make her do errands for me. I throw all the stupidly nice things she does for me straight back in her face, and I'm not proud of it! I'm disgusted in myself. But I don't feel for her what she feels for me." He wiped his brow nervously. "At least, I thought I didn't." He mumbled.

Grantaire frowned. "What do you mean, "you thought you didn't"?"

Marius bit his thumb nail and sheepishly looked at Grantaire, who looked surprisingly calm. "If I don't have feelings for 'Ponine, why has the thought of you and her being together bothered me so much?" He scoffed.

Grantaire managed to stop his drunk mind from letting slip all his sober thoughts and he swallowed the swear words that threatened to roll off his tongue. He cleared his throat and attempted to do the same to his head. When he failed to think straight, he lost his balanced slightly and began walking backwards towards the door.

"'Taire!" Marius shuffled to get to his feet but froze when Grantaire motioned for him to stop.

"I need a moment." He snapped as he walked into a table. He finally made his way to the door and almost tumbled down the stairs.

He reached the bottom, miraculously unharmed, and threw the main doors open, gasping in deep breaths as he came to contact with the fresh, cold air. Blood rushed to his head, making him feel light headed so he leant against the brick wall for support.

He couldn't bear the thought of Marius telling Eponine he had feelings for her. That's all he would have to do to win her over. She would melt and fall at his feet. Their relationship would be like that of a king and his servant, Marius would give an order and click his fingers and Eponine would do whatever he asked. She'd worship the ground he walked on!

_I can't let that happen to her. _Grantaire decided. _I can't and I won't._

He found himself lost in his thoughts, racking his brain as he attempted to come up with a way to stop Eponine and Marius ever being together. His thoughts were interrupted by his favourite sweet, calming, angelic voice.

"Grantaire?" Eponine slid her small hand around his forearm, soothingly. "What happened in there with Marius?"

A/N: Wow, what a delay! Apologies, but I'm snowed under with college work :( I'm getting used to it more now, so I should be able to work out a way to balance this and my work nicely.

I think I've fallen in love with Grantaire. I want him to be my best friend! He's so cute. Anyway, MARIUS IS BACK DUN DUN DUN. And Eponine's become a bit of a manizer(?) Plot twists.


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